More Than Friends
by Lynx Hates Everything
Summary: Homura and Kyoko had been friends even after the timelines, but found no luck with romance. On a whim, they try to find comfort in each other. That's what friends are for, right? [Post-Portable series]
1. Wanna Make Out?

So I really usually prefer platonic BroTP KyouHomu, but I wanted to write this as a little spot to write out headcanons and dumb bro scenes. I thought they'd be pretty hilarious trying to figure out how to romance together, given how awkward the both of them are. It's still a little MadoHomu and KyouSaya, I can't ignore canon things for the sake of this.

Takes place after _Madoka Portable's _best ending. This was also mentioned as a one-off line in _Confessions_, but like _One More Drink_ became a full fic of its own. Prior knowledge of those are not required, it's technically a prequel. Probably the last I'm gonna do in this mini-series of post-series linked things.

Also this fic is written completely, and I'll be uploading a chapter daily or so as I edit it. So expect quick updates.

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**Chapter 1: Wanna Make Out?**

Homura wasn't sure when she and Kyoko first became friends. Some time between the fighting, she started asking for her help with more personal problems, confiding her wish even. Conversations with her turned into casual chatting, until she found herself being contacted even before they went out to hunt witches.

When she asked why Kyoko so frequently brought problems unrelated to being a magical girl to her, she was met with a noncommittal shrug. "We're friends, aren't we?"

It was an unfamiliar concept at the time. Her only friend was supposed to be Madoka, but she felt differently about them. Kyoko could keep a secret, while Madoka was a good listener but too chatty to keep anything hidden. Being with Madoka made her happy and they would laugh for hours, while Kyoko's company made her happy when laughing at her expense, but rarely laughing aloud. And there were those once-confusing feelings for Madoka that always turned her insides that she never experienced with Kyoko.

Most importantly, if plans with Madoka were canceled, Kyoko was her backup, while Madoka was never as low as a second option. Most often, these backup plans included a lot of frustrated tears and anywhere from minutes to hours of consoling.

Kyoko came to her with the same problems with Sayaka, often angrier. She was satisfied to solve anything with sparring to relieve pent-up stress. It was worth the potential toll on her soul gem to make a friend feel better, she found.

She looked at her last sent text, to Madoka. "That's alright, it's not due tomorrow so we can reschedule." Madoka loved being helpful, and though it was a little underhanded, she often asked for her help with homework as an excuse to spend time together. It was their first year of high school, so she was eager to help her not struggle through the very beginning.

A few hours before this exchange, Tatsuya was run to the doctor for a high fever and other unspecified symptoms. Madoka was with the rest of her family, sure that he was okay, but too worried to not sit in the waiting room. It was understandable, she told herself, but that didn't make it hurt any less that she was going to be alone tonight.

As her usual last resort, she pulled up her contacts and dialed Kyoko's number. She didn't have to wait long before getting a short, "Yeah?"

"What are you doing right now?" There was no need for introductions, she would've seen the caller ID.

"TV at Mami's. Why?" She didn't sound busy. "Don't you have plans tonight?"

"No." She _did_, but not anymore.

"Do you need me to come over?" She picked up the situation on that one word: Madoka canceled and she wanted company.

Homura was quiet for several seconds, swallowing her pride just long enough to say one word. "Please."

"I'll be there soon." Kyoko hung up without giving her a chance to say anything. She tossed her phone onto the couch cushion next to her, laying back with a loud sigh. It felt absolutely pathetic, relying on someone else over some unrequited fuzzy feelings. But if she was going to sit through Kyoko's problems, she was going to use her just as much. As a friend.

It never took Kyoko more than a few minutes to get to her apartment; she really did rush when it came to this. But it was an agonizing wait when she was left with nothing but her own thoughts and she was expecting to have company. That was the most disappointing thing, she decided. After years of being alone for so long and finally adjusting to spending time with others, having plans like this fall through was even lonelier than being alone all the time. In this situation, she couldn't undo time and try again for a better result.

There was a knock at her door that disrupted her from staring at an empty wall. The clock read later than she thought it was – she swore she was only sitting there for a minute – and it was probably Kyoko given the heavy-handed beating her door was receiving. She pushed herself up with great effort to answer before she kicked it in.

"Yo." Both hands were stuffed in her jacket pockets, and Homura assumed she must have been actually kicking it. She walked in without being invited, tossing a candy bar at her as she crossed the doorway. "I picked this up for you."

"You wouldn't have had time to stop by the store if you were at Tomoe-san's." It was a regular chocolate bar with almonds. Not something she made a habit of eating, but she wasn't about to turn it away.

"I had some extras on me." She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but it really was. In middle school, Kyoko had a well-earned reputation as a food hoarder, but lately she'd been sharing without a second thought. "No one else is home?"

"No." Her schoolbag was still in the living room propped up against the table. She hadn't bothered to put it away even though she didn't need it anymore.

"C'mere." Kyoko pulled her closer by her forearm and dragged her into a hug. "How are you feeling?"

Homura was the slightest bit shorter, just enough of a difference to comfortably lean her head on her shoulder. She found it difficult to directly say how she was feeling, even though it should have been easy to put into words. "I'm fine." Not hurt, not in danger, technically she was doing alright. "Just disappointed."

"You wouldn't have called me if you were fine, you idiot." She thumped her in the back of her head with her thumb and let her go. "Let's go talk this out of you."

"I don't need to talk." Dealing with this had gotten much easier since last year, and she didn't feel the need to talk her ear off into the late hours. It was just homework and studying, not like a real date.

"Yes you do. Sit." She dragged her to the couch and pushed her onto it, taking a seat next to her. Contrary to what she said about talking, Kyoko picked up the remote off the table. "What do you want to watch?"

"Nothing." If she wanted to watch TV, she would have already had it on.

"Yes you do." She let it settle on some movie she didn't recognize on a cable channel.

"What movie is this?" Kyoko held the remote out of reach when she tried to take it to check the guide.

"Doesn't matter, it's not quiet in here now." She tossed it across the room, where Homura couldn't get to it unless Kyoko let her stand up. "It's not gonna make you pay if that's what you're worried about."

Her cable bill was the last thing on her mind. "What do you want?"

"Nuh uh, it's about what you want. You called me here." That was hard to refute. "What's bothering you?"

Homura opened her mouth to say it was nothing when Kyoko held a hand up and cut her off. "Don't say nothing."

She glared and came up with something else. "I don't know why I called you if this is what you planned on doing."

"That's nice." She hardly noticed the insult, or didn't bring it up. "What were you doing before I came here?"

Kyoko didn't wait for an answer – she hadn't come up with one anyways – and took her phone from where she left it on the couch. "Who's texting you?"

"Hey- Kyoko!" She threw herself at her, but she expected that and jumped to the side. Her arm was fully extended to get the phone as far away as possible as Homura pinned her belly-down to the arm of the couch, one arm twisted behind her back. She laid across her, arm out to try and take her phone back.

"I'm really sorry," Kyoko read aloud. "Maybe we can meet up tomorrow instead if Tatsuya feels better."

"Give it- _nng_." Her fingertips brushed against it as she stretched further, and Kyoko handed it back.

"I figured that was it. No need to hide it, ya know." She struggled under Homura, trying to shove her off so she could sit up properly. She made this difficult for her, sprawling out to lay across as much of her back as possible. "Yer gonna crush my lungs, geroff."

"You don't need to breathe." If she suffocated, her soul gem would fill her lungs with air again and she would be fine.

"Don' take this out on- ack-" She coughed, rolling herself to her side and tossing Homura off. "Damn you're heavy."

Homura glared at her from the floor, but accepted her hand to pull herself up. Kyoko sat sideways on the couch and dragged her into her lap. "Would you-" Homura began to protest, when Kyoko thumped her on the nose to shut her up.

With her arms wrapped around her tightly – it felt more like she was being restrained than hugged – she said, "How are you feeling? Don't tell me disappointed again, what's really going on?"

"That's all it is." It was natural to be disappointed when plans didn't work out.

"No it's not. You wouldn't call me if your rice cooker broke, that's disappointment." Homura didn't put Madoka in the same category as a rice cooker for more reasons than that. Kyoko's outlook was too different from hers for analogies.

When she didn't respond to that, Kyoko tried again. "Look, just cry so you can get over it?"

"What?" If she could turn around to glare at her, she would have.

"Whenever this happens, you get pissed off for a few days. I don't wanna deal with that anymore, so cry." She said it too matter-of-factly.

"I'm not going to cry, Kyoko." Nor did she need to.

"Yes you will." Her grip around her loosened, but she still pulled her in closer. "You're just stressed out, let it go."

"This is ridiculous." She moved to sit up from between Kyoko's knees, but she locked her in again.

"Hear me out at least, then you can go if you want." Kyoko slackened her grip, and relaxed completely when Homura didn't try to escape. "Alright, think about what you wanted when you asked Madoka to visit. You didn't really need help with your homework."

"I wanted to see her." Her apartment was always much more lively with someone in it, especially Madoka. Kyoko too, but for entirely different reasons.

"And then what? You could've gone anywhere if you wanted to see her. Peek in her window, even." She laughed a little at her own joke.

"This was convenient." Despite Kyoko's frequent teasing, she would never spy on her like that.

"You don't need to go to the store? Could've said that, but you invited her over here instead." She was running a little low on rice, and suspiciously lower on snacks with Kyoko's visits increasing in frequency, but that wasn't a cause to drag Madoka out. "You wanted her here because it's private."

"No, that's not it." She denied it, but it was hard to ignore the way her stomach twisted. The end goal for her relationship with Madoka was hardly platonic, and she made no effort to hide that from Kyoko. But she didn't invite her with some lewd ulterior motive in mind, she was allowed to enjoy her company.

"Of course it's not." She leaned in closer and rested her cheek against the back of her head. "So you never thought about hugging or anything?"

"We're friends, we've hugged." Madoka hugged everybody, it wasn't a romantic gesture at all.

"Nothin' else?" Kyoko raised her arm to rub the spot between Homura's neck and shoulder. "Didn't think about after that, or if she was gonna touch ya just to touch ya like this? Betcha her hands are softer than mine."

"Doesn't matter." There was a growing pit in her stomach, and she hunched over to rest her chin on her knees.

"Yes it does, that's why you're so upset." She followed her and leaned in closer, breath ruffling the small hairs on the back of her neck. "And because you're never gonna talk to her, she's never going to."

"Stop," she said, forcing the word out around the lump in her throat. Kyoko immediately let go, sitting up properly against the back of the couch. Her eyes burned, shortly followed by tears staining her cheeks. "Dammit, Kyoko."

"Can I hug you again?" She nodded, not trusting herself to speak clearly. "Sorry. You can be mad at me for now, but you'll feel better."

She didn't feel better. Kyoko wrapped her arms around her again, pulling her head to her shoulder. "Just let it out, be angry for a little while."

That was easy, she was mad at Kyoko and how useless she was. She only asked her to come over and keep her company for a few hours, and she was already crying while she held her like a child. Too often she had Kyoko over and regretted it within the first hour, even if that eventually passed.

It hadn't been long before she started to calm down, eyes no longer stinging and breath even. Kyoko kept an arm around her shoulders the whole time, staying quiet and letting her fume in peace.

"Feel better?" she asked after she'd settled down.

"Not at all." She felt a lot less frustrated than before, and appreciated that she was there to relieve that stress.

"Good." Kyoko let go of her and pushed her to sit up, detecting her sarcasm. "Still mad at me?"

She huffed and brushed her hair past her shoulder before answering; that question was much harder. It was embarrassing and she didn't feel it was necessary, but she did feel better. "A little."

"I can take that." She stood and stretched backwards. "What do ya have to eat?"

"I haven't gone shopping since last time you were here." Her life was too busy for her pantry to keep up with Kyoko, who had already left to look through it.

"I'll make us...whatever this is." She glanced at the directions on the back of the first box she grabbed. "Can I stay the night?"

"You aren't going to stay with Tomoe-san or Miki-san?" Kyoko normally stayed with Mami since they made up, as she had no parents to question the visitor, but had frequent sleepovers with Sayaka.

"Nah, you look like you need the company." She tore through her cupboards for a pot, knocking them noisily side to side. "Unless you really wanna be alone all night."

"Do what you want." She forced irritation into her voice, but she didn't realize how nice it sounded until it was offered.

"I'll text Mami, tell her I won't be there tonight." It was also nice to have someone cooking for her when she couldn't be bothered to get up and do it. Kyoko hadn't been a

_complete_ freeloader in the past few months, she was willing to cook or bring some ingredients of her own in exchange.

"This stuff finishes quick, huh?" Kyoko kept talking the whole time, even if she didn't respond. The atmosphere just became heavier with every moment of silence, but she kept it as lively as she could without annoying her.

It was almost 11am when they were considering going to sleep. Kyoko wrapped herself in a spare blanket on the couch, changed into nothing but an oversized shirt she borrowed from Homura and watching TV next to her. Their dishes sat unwashed in the sink, they could be dealt with tomorrow. It had been a rough night, chores didn't need to be added on top of it.

Homura had just opened her mouth to announce that she was moving to her room for the night when Kyoko dropped the bombshell. "Wanna make out?"

She was too surprised and confused to shut it, and froze while she processed that question. "What?"

Kyoko had asked it confidently, but when asked to clarify she looked away and messed with the edge of the blanket. "You and me...you know. Kissing and stuff."

"Go home, Kyoko."

"Hey, I'm serious." She crossed her arms and sighed. "You ain't been with anyone, right? I haven't either. So why not?"

"I don't have time for this." Or enough patience. She started to return to her room.

Kyoko grabbed her forearm before she could leave. "I mean it, just...hear me out. We haven't gotten anywhere, and we're in high school. No reason to spend all that time alone. You're plenty gorgeous, and, come on, just look at me." She was more confident when gloating. "We're already friends, so I think I can tolerate ya long enough to try."

Homura sat back down to think while Kyoko sat back and waited impatiently for a reply. If she gave that much reason, then she was serious. But she took so long to accept that they were friends, and this was a big change. She had been with Madoka romantically before, in previous timelines where she died. This wouldn't be her first experience, despite what Kyoko thought.

She had chalked up Madoka's current disinterest to a change when switching timelines. Sometimes that boy Kyousuke played violin instead of guitar, sometimes Madoka's friend Hitomi would be an unlikely obstacle between them, and apparently she had ended her fight on a timeline where Madoka wasn't interested in other girls. If that was true, she really wasn't going to have a chance with her.

"Alright." Even if it didn't work out, there were times they had tried to kill each other. If they could bounce back from that, then they could stay friends after a botched relationship if it didn't work out.

Kyoko acted nonchalant about it, but she grinned when she said that. "So uh, what do we... I'll just..." Her confidence left her as she leaned over her, one arm against the back of the couch next to her head. She hesitated before bringing her mouth to hers.

Homura was surprised at how different it was from every other kiss, even though they were all with another girl. The first thing she noticed was the faint smell from having someone else so close, dust and sweat rather than cloying strawberry-scented soap. Her teeth were sharper, too, a completely different feeling across her tongue. Neither feeling unpleasant, just different. She held the back of Kyoko's head and absently lost the ends of her fingers in her hair.

Kyoko kept a careful distance between them, and it was uncomfortable to push herself up since she wasn't leaning against her like Madoka always did. Soon after they stared, Kyoko broke it off and panted like she'd been holding her breath the whole time, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "Uhh...damn."

"What does that mean?" Kyoko pushed herself away and sat next to her.

"Nothin'. You sure that's your first time?"

"Positive." Explaining the timelines would make her seem crazy, especially after that.

"You're just good at everything, aren't ya?" She shrugged and pulled the blanket over herself. "I'm gonna...bedtime I guess."

"Good night." It was a good time to sleep.

"Sure you don't want my company in there?" She glared at her over her shoulder, but Kyoko laughed it off. "Kidding. 'Night."

It was too late to stay up any longer, but she still couldn't stop thinking. She'd spent so long with one goal in mind and for this outcome...she wasn't sure how she felt. Not regret, at least. As a way to just pass time in high school, there were worse things to do.

They both agreed it wasn't serious, it was just a last resort for both of them. For convenience's sake. Nothing serious.


	2. I Wanted to Show Off My New Girlfriend

I should've put in the AN last night (originally I forgot half the AN anyways) that, yeah, I said knowledge of the fics this is a prequel to isn't required. But I should give a fair warning that the one line that led to this was that they weren't together very long. It's still an excuse to write the kissing and the dating and explore their dynamic, but it's not a bait and switch so I don't want anyone disappointed if they were expecting a happily ever after together.

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**Chapter 2: I Wanted to Show Off My New Girlfriend**

Homura woke the next morning almost hoping it was a ridiculous dream. It had been so long since she'd had dreams that real, but there was always that chance. She was upset, and Kyoko was just at the front of her mind. The thought nagged at the back of her head, but she still had to brush her hair and change into her uniform before she left her room. Curiosity wasn't an excuse to break habit and not get ready for school.

Hopes of everything being caused by a runaway imagination didn't last long; Kyoko was sprawled out on her couch, right arm and leg fallen off and brushing the floor. She thought she would be disappointed, but rather she was somewhere between content and not regretful. It could get really lonely, so maybe this could be worth the time. But today she had school, so it would have to wait.

"Wake up, I'm leaving for school soon." She shook her vigorously by the shoulder.

Kyoko yawned and rubbed her eyes, cracking one open to look up at her. She gave a sleepy smirk. "Mornin', babe."

Homura acknowledged her just long enough to roll her eyes. "I don't have a spare key, so if you want to stay here you have to stay in all day." It might be more convenient to print her a copy, regardless of their new relationship. She trusted her enough to not steal and pawn everything, and it would give her somewhere to be.

"Nah, I'll crash Mami's place, brought her key with me." She kicked the blanket off and propped herself up on one elbow, pointing across the room. "Toss me my clothes."

"You can get them yourself, I'm making breakfast." Her morning routine was strictly calculated and she didn't want to break it just so that Kyoko wouldn't be mildly inconvenienced. She was already running behind; staying up that late made it harder to shake off the sleep and drag herself out of bed. "Do you want any?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." She pulled her shorts on and stretched upwards, joints popping so loudly that Homura could hear them from the kitchen. "Damn, I slept on my neck badly."

"You can always stay at Tomoe-san's." Mami had a spare bedroom that would have remained empty if Kyoko didn't frequently occupy it. It was definitely more comfortable than her couch.

"S'not that bad." She paused to pull the borrowed shirt up over her head. "Better than before I came back to Mitakihara and made up with Mami."

"You can stay here whenever you like, then." She expected that she would still spend more nights at Mami's, but she couldn't care less where Kyoko stayed.

"So what do you think about last night?" Kyoko pulled her own shirt down and straightened it out.

Homura had to stop and make sure she didn't miss something. "I didn't talk about last night."

"That's why I brought it up, we need to talk about it." It would be immature to dodge the topic, but she really didn't think they needed to go into it further.

"What's there to talk about?" It happened, she was still on her couch in the morning, and even if she wanted to reset time to erase it she wasn't going back to the month before Walpurgisnacht.

"You don't regret it or nothing?" She went into the kitchen to put bread in the toaster, helping Homura get breakfast out a little faster.

"Why, do you?" It wouldn't change her life any if Kyoko didn't want to date her.

"Nah, just making sure you aren't getting the wrong idea. Like I came in while you're all vulnerable and took advantage of you." She shrugged as if it was any other inconsequential question about her day.

"No, I trust you that much." Kyoko had several other opportunities if that were the case, and if she suspected as much, she would have fought her right there in the kitchen.

"Yeah, you're not really feminine enough to be vulnerable like that." She took two plates out of a cabinet, oblivious to the glare she received. "Can I hold onto your house key? I'll run and make a copy while you're at school and drop it off during your lunch."

"You could just wait inside the apartment when I come back." Or stay at Mami's like she already said she was doing.

"Change of plans, Mami texted me and I gotta meet her at the school anyways." Kyoko normally avoided their high school during class hours. Without a uniform she clearly wasn't a student, but girls her age should have been in school at that time.

"What about?" She slid the keys across the table and moved the food from the pans to the plates.

"I dunno, stuff." Kyoko picked up that tone she used when she was hiding something. Homura wasn't going to be able to pry it out of her before she left, she'd just have to ask Mami at lunch. "Where you gonna be at lunch? Roof again?" she asked around a mouthful of bacon.

"If we aren't, you can find us." She finished eating quickly, long before Kyoko, who was in no rush to leave.

"I'll see you 'round noon then." Homura slipped her shoes on and lifted her schoolbag over her shoulder. "Oh, wait!" She launched herself over the arm of the couch.

"Make it quick, I'm in a hur-" Kyoko quieted her by leaning down and planting a light kiss on her forehead.

"For good luck or somethin'." She grinned. "We're supposed to do that now."

"Y- yeah..." Up until that dose of reality, it like the start of any normal morning after a sleepover, as friends. "I'll see you at lunch."

"Not gonna do it back?" Kyoko asked as she put a wide smirk on her face.

Homura sighed like it was troublesome, but really it was just abnormal. This was a big change, and she had only recently adjusted to natural things, like seasons and weather. Kyoko was taller than her, so for the first time she had to stand on her toes and hold onto her shoulder for balance in order to reach.

"Was that so bad?" She rolled her eyes. Not bad, just...different. Kyoko's skin was almost tough from spending so much time outside and never bothering with those facial washes. She could only bring herself to describe it as not unpleasant.

"I'm running late." She didn't have time to stand around discussing this.

"Yeah, I'll see you at lunch."

* * *

"_What did you want to talk to Kyoko about?_" The first thing Homura did when she got to school was telepathically reach out to Mami.

"_Sakura-san? She texted me this morning before school and said she wanted to talk to me at lunch, but she never explained._" Mami sounded confused.

She wasn't sure if she could hear her loud sigh. "_I see._"

"_Do you know what's going on? Is something wrong?_"

"_Everything was fine last night, I doubt there's anything to be concerned about._" She did promise herself that if Kyoko was gonna make a big, dramatic reveal out of their relationship, she was going to make her pay.

"_Hm._" She sounded skeptical, but let her drop the subject. Their lunch hour was only a few hours away, much sooner than it would take to pry an answer out of her.

Other than that brief conversation, the school day went as normally as ever. Kyoko was already sitting on the rooftop to meet them when they arrived.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to be here during school hours." Sayaka was a complete stickler for the school rules when Kyoko was around, although she never enforced them as strictly. Her constant reminding grated against Kyoko, and they expected it was the only reason she still insisted on bringing them up when applicable.

"Relax, I'm just here for Homura." She tossed her key at her. "I made a copy, you can have yours back."

"Surely you didn't contact me so that you could give Akemi-san her keys." Mami crossed her arms.

"Nah, course not." Kyoko sat down next to Homura, throwing an arm over her shoulders; she buried her face in her hand, preparing for Kyoko to say something really stupid. "I wanted to show off my new girlfriend."

"Your..." Other than Mami voicing her surprise, it was quiet.

"You can't just..." Sayaka waved her arm around vaguely. "I'm sure there's something you're not allowed to do that you're doing."

Homura tuned out the two arguing, turning her attention to Madoka, who was trying to calm Sayaka. She seemed more concerned with settling Sayaka's frustrations - "You can't just bring your girlfriend to school so you're both breaking the rules!" - than the news itself. So she didn't care. Then they would just be friends, she wasn't interested in her.

It was hard to be upset as she thought she would be, surrounded by her loud friends. And Kyoko was always there to cheer her up, so having her right there was almost comforting.

"I ain't stayin' past lunch," Kyoko argued. "Nobody's gonna catch us."

"Sayaka-chan please calm down we've never gotten in trouble before." Madoka held an arm across her lap like she was about to leap out of the bench and throttle Kyoko.

"Just don't do any gross stuff around us," Sayaka huffed.

"Gross, huh?" Kyoko laughed it off, but Homura recognized the disappointed edge to her voice. "Yer just jealous."

"Like hell!" In response to Sayaka snapping at her, she grabbed Homura by the collar and kissed her again. She pushed her back by the shoulder, out of habit.

"Sakura-san, stop antagonizing her. And Miki-san, please stop shouting." Mami scolded both of them with a stern expression.

"Yeah, yeah." Kyoko let go of Homura and dug through the grocery bag she brought, presumably containing her lunch. Sayaka grumbled something about it being Kyoko's fault.

"Akemi-san, is this true?" Mami looked at her. "_Is this what you believed she was going to tell us, when you contacted me this morning?_"

"Yes," she said, in response to both questions.

"Then I think this calls for celebration!" She clapped her hands together and smiled.

"That's not–" She began to protest, but was drowned out by the others cheering.

"Alright! Mami has the best parties!" Kyoko was the loudest, one fist raised above her head. It wasn't how she planned on her first relationship in the final timeline to go, but it was hard to feel disappointed when everyone around her was so happy.


	3. Not Into Romance or Somethin?

**Chapter 3: ****Not Into Romance or Somethin'?**

Kyoko was stretched out on Homura's couch when she came home from school. There was an open bag of ramen-flavored chips on the table, a box of Pocky propped up against her side, and a convenience store bag on the floor below her. She waved hello when Homura walked in, mouth too full to greet her verbally.

"You'd better not be getting crumbs everywhere." It was hard keeping her apartment so clean, and Kyoko wasn't going to turn it into a personal pigpen.

She swallowed and pushed herself up on her elbows before answering. "Nah, it's fine."

"I'm not convinced." She wasn't close, but she could still see bits of chip peppering her couch cushion.

"No, really, Mami pays me to clean her apartment when she's at school. I'll make sure it's clean." If that was true it was impressive. Kyoko let her mess stay where it fell, but Mami's apartment couldn't be more spotless.

"Is that how you paid for this?" She always had a seemingly-endless supply of snacks.

"Yep! Did you think I was just stealing everything?"

"I never thought about it." She knew she stole in the past and assumed this was the same.

"Nope, I'm a straight-laced good girl now." Kyoko gave a sarcastic grin.

"Good for you." She kept all enthusiasm out of her voice.

"That's the only thing about me that's straight if you catch my drift." Kyoko laughed off the glare she shot at her. "You arguin'?"

"I never said I was." Kyoko's double entendres were annoying at worst. At least this one was true.

"So how was your day?" After brushing the crumbs to the floor, and ignoring another distasteful glare, she pushed herself to her elbows.

"It was just school." She dropped her bag on the floor against the couch and sat next to her. "You should try it some time."

"Been there done that." Kyoko pulled out a pair of Pocky sticks and kept one in her mouth. "Don't need it, life's pretty good without. I'm a magical girl, got a job with Mami, and I got a girlfriend, even if you ain't perfect."

"As long as you aren't making a mess of things when we're gone." Mami and Sayaka frequently bothered her to register, but she agreed with Kyoko that it wasn't worth the trouble. She was technically a homeless orphan who hadn't been to school in years, and none of them would have a good explanation.

"If you mean the couch I'll clean that when you're not sitting on it." Another stick went between her teeth. "And I stocked up the fridge with some stuff, that's pretty responsible."

"Is that supposed to be a subtle hint?" That was convenient at least, she had planned on shopping over the weekend.

"Ya don't _hafta_ cook tonight, I'm just sayin' if ya do I'll help." She spoke around mouthful of Pocky.

"Maybe." Neither of them had plans other than hunting down witches, it was just a regular weeknight.

"Here." Kyoko took out yet another one, but then instead of eating it, she held it in front of Homura's mouth.

"No thanks." She tilted her head away, but Kyoko's hand followed.

"I already pulled it out for you, you gotta eat it now." She forced it between her lips and rubbed it across against her teeth.

"Kyoko-" The warning was interrupted when Kyoko shot forward and pushed it towards the back of her mouth.

With a proud grin, she said, "Now you gotta."

Homura kept it carefully balanced in her teeth as she spoke. "I don't want it."

"Alright, my turn." Kyoko leaned forward and bit the opposite end; Homura wasted no time in biting her end off and backing away.

"What are you doing?" It was hard to give an unimpressed glare while eating a chocolate-dipped cookie.

"Pocky game." She pouted as she ate the rest. "I even gave you the good end."

"Don't, I have homework." Not a lot of it, but she didn't want to rush through the early morning making up for time lost to fighting.

"Not into romance or somethin'?" Kyoko jabbed her in the side lightly with her elbow. "Afraid of cooties?"

Without warning, Homura moved in and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Kyoko's mouth. She froze, just for a second, and hastily composed herself. "Ya did it wrong." In retaliation, she put her hands against her shoulders and swept in close.

It was over as soon as Homura's brain registered what was going on, the feeling of her lips pressed into hers too hard as her jaw quivered. She pulled back, flushed lightly red but still managing a cocky grin. "Your turn."

Homura found her voice after several seconds of settling her breath. "I told you I have homework."

"Yer no fun." Kyoko let her go, and she could swear she looked a little relieved to be sitting away. "What subject?"

"Most of them." She had been putting off anything that was strictly memorization, such as history and English. Years after the event, she could still remember every fact and formula for that one month of school, which distracted her from learning anything new.

"Need help?" Kyoko barely got out that question when Homura dropped an English notebook on her lap.

"Write these sentences. We can make dinner sooner if you do." It was just rewriting sentences in English, nothing she considered necessary.

"You didn't seem the type to cheat." She opened the folder with a knowing smirk. "The straight-A student can't do her own homework?"

"That's getting old." Kyoko teased her about a secret she promised to keep from the others, especially Madoka. While Mami preached how easy it was to balance excellent grades and wraith hunting, none of them adapted to it as easily as her. On test days, Kyoko would sit outside with a journal full of class notes and telepathically feed her answers.

"Still funny." Their handwriting wasn't too dissimilar when writing English, ridiculously messy and just legible enough to be graded. "You trip up trying to be so perfect to impress Madoka, and it's just a dumb act."

"I'm not doing that anymore if I'm with you." It was a habit she still hadn't broken, but it would be impossible to let go of the past if Kyoko wouldn't.

"Ah, yeah." She looked away from the paper and tapped her pencil against the table. "I guess I can't tease you about that anymore. I'll find something else."

"I'm sure you will." Kyoko found humor in everything, losing one topic wasn't going to change anything.

"Yeah, you're pretty easy to poke fun at."

* * *

It was still pretty early in the evening, but Kyoko had nowhere else to be this time of day. Mami wasn't strict with her house rules, but it could get boring. Homura's place was just as empty, but she was cool under the kind of pressure she exuded.

She unlocked the door, announcing her presence as she opened it. "Yo, you- woah!" Kyoko spun on her heel and slammed the door shut. "Sorry about that."

It was only a blur, but she caught sight of Homura in the living room, soaking wet in nothing but a towel and a glass of water in hand. "You could have knocked first."

"Figured you'd be…I dunno, dressed." She rubbed the back of her neck, ashamed.

"I'm alone in my own home." Homura didn't sound nearly as embarrassed as she was. "I wasn't expecting your company until later."

"Yeah, I guess I'm real early." Her mind trailed back. "Hey, I think I saw somethin'."

"I don't care what you saw, I'm going to get dressed."

"No, wait! I mean, hang on that's not what it sounds like." She was turned away, but still flailed her arms to clear it. "On your chest. Wait that still sounds wrong I'm just trying to ask if you're hurt." It was only for a glance, but she thought she saw a dark scar running down her breastbone.

"I'm fine." She could hear her turning to leave.

"Then what was that scar? If it didn't heal, it had to be really bad." She unzipped her jacket and held it out behind her. "You can put this on to show me if you want."

The weight of the jacket left her hand, and soon after she heard it zipping again. "You can turn around."

Homura was in front of her still, towel around her waist, jacket zipped up most of the way. She got a good look at it for the first time, a neat, faded red line running from her collar bones almost all the way to her ribcage. "This is from several years ago, it was already set so I couldn't heal it after I became a magical girl."

"You live a dangerous life even as a kid or something?" It looked bad, even years later. She couldn't imagine taking a hit to the chest like that and surviving when she was younger.

"It was from surgery, I had a heart condition as a child." She must have looked concerned, because Homura coolly brushed it off with, "It's fine now, I could heal that much with magic."

"Yeah, alright." That was heavy information, she didn't have anything to share that she didn't already know and the conversation felt uneven. "Is that why you made the contract?"

"No, that was unrelated, I only realized I could do that afterwards." Kyoko was hoping she could finally learn something about her secret wish, but she kept quiet about it. When she didn't follow that up with anything, Homura asked, "Was there anything else?"

"I, uh…." It was still awkward having someone tell you a secret while nonchalantly wearing nothing but a towel and an open jacket. She said the first thing that came to mind to break the ice. "Microtits."

She would have regretted saying that if she had the time to. The hard plastic cup made contact with her forehead, and her face was drenched with water. By the time she brushed her dripping-wet bangs out of her eyes, Homura had already slammed her bedroom door shut behind her.

"Hey, at least give me my jacket back!" She wiped her face off on her shirt to dry it and waited on the couch for Homura to be done. That was a stupid thing to say, but it was funnier than she could have hoped. Maybe she'd apologize after harping on it a bit longer.

* * *

Kyoko sprawled herself out across Homura's bed, taking up as much room as possible. Sleeping on couches wasn't uncomfortable, but sometimes it felt nice to have that much room without falling off. She promised to help Homura clean out her room before dinner, but was distracted when asked to put the newly-washed sheets on the mattress.

"If you don't get that done, we're going to be late for dinner." Homura emptied out a desk drawer mostly full of crumpled paper and broken pens into the trash.

"But this is gonna take forever, you've got so much crap in here." She pretended Homura didn't shoot her a nasty glare. "When did you last clean like this?"

"Middle school probably." She shrugged and moved onto the next drawer.

"What the hell, it's been years since middle school. For as perfect as you act, your life is a mess." Kyoko stretched across the bed and opened the top drawer of the nightstand. "This too?"

"Some of the stuff in there might be important, don't throw it all away." It was hard to tell what was and wasn't important given that Homura was putting basically everything in the trash. She threw away anything broken or crumpled beyond recognition, leaving the rest in the drawer.

"I didn't know you wear glasses." There was a pair of cherry red glasses in the lower drawer, and some purple hair ribbons. She'd never once seen her in glasses, and she only ever wore a headband.

"I don't, I thought I got rid of those." She only glanced over her shoulder briefly to look. "You can throw those away."

"Don't need them anymore?" Kyoko held them up to her face and the world blurred. "Damn, your eyes were awful. You don't wanna keep these just for the memories or nothin'?"

"No, there aren't any good memories associated with them." She busied herself again with working, but Kyoko slid the glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, look." She lowered her voice to imitate her. "I'm Homura Akemi, I'm embarrassed because I used to look like a dumb nerd."

"Don't do that." She glared again and Kyoko tried to imagine her pulling that look with those thick red frames.

"I'm always mad because my life is really hard, but I'm actually just a crybaby. Don't talk to Madoka or I'll get jealous." Homura lunged forward and tried to snatch them off her face, but she dropped backwards and kept her at bay with her knee.

"Cut that- Kyoko stop!" She reached out, but Kyoko batted her arms away with no trouble.

It was hard to keep up the impression while laughing so hard, but she continued. "I'm a weak-ass baby, can't even take glasses away from someone." Homura grunted as Kyoko's knee dug into her chest. She dropped the flat tone in her voice. "Alright, you can have them back."

"Kyoko!" She took them off her face and tried to push them onto Homura's, but she pulled away.

"Come on, wear them once and I'll stop." It was hard to try and push them to her nose without jabbing her in the eye. Sure it would heal, but it was still a dick move to do that for a joke.

"I'm not- get off of me." Homura got a grip on the glasses and snapped one of the arms off. "There, now throw them away."

"Nah, you could still get these on." She put then back on, and they tilted to the side but didn't fall off.

"If you throw them out right now you can be done here and we'll leave early."

Initially she didn't plan on stopping until she could see her in them, but that offer was too tempting. Tossing both pieces into the garbage bin with perfect aim, she agreed. "Alright, only 'cause ya asked nicely."


	4. It's a Witch, Isn't It?

**Chapter 4: It's a Witch, Isn't It?**

Homura was no stranger to balancing witch hunting and a relationship. It would be a new experience for Kyoko, but surprisingly it was easier this time than any other. She went to great lengths to prevent Madoka from fighting witches, but Kyoko fought alongside her earnestly. It was easier to make time for somebody when they spent so many nights of the week living with you.

Recently she'd had to hear Kyoko's complaints of there only being familiars around. With a group of four veteran magical girls cleaning the city up, there wasn't much room for a familiar to grow and become a witch, nor did newer magical girls run out of magic fighting too many stray familiars. Every few days, she would "accidentally" let one escape, and Homura would turn the other way. More than likely, Sayaka or Mami would find it before it could become a witch.

While those two disapproved of fighting for fun or allowing familiars to attack civilians, Homura knew they could only last so long without grief seeds. And if Kyoko wanted to spend too long kicking a familiar around, there was no harm as long as it was taken care of by the end. She called her off when she was wasting too much energy, and that was all that was important.

Tonight, her soul gem glowed brighter than usual when it picked up the trail. Kyoko noticed it, and a smile broke out on her face. "It's a witch, isn't it?"

"Most likely." It didn't matter to her either way. Her job was to stand on the sidelines and provide backup to Kyoko, conserving her remaining ammo.

"Hah!" She stretched her arms upwards and bent backwards as she walked, cracking her knuckles loudly. "Can't wait."

"Don't waste all of your energy before we even get there." Though she suspected it wasn't far if the soul gem was already this bright. It led them to a nearby hotel, a brightly-colored rip in the side of the building.

"Aw _hell_ yeah!" Kyoko wasted no time making a running leap, transforming mid-jump before she made it in. Homura followed her in at a much more reasonable pace, having a concept of the word "patience."

Kyoko was already standing feet spread, weapon out, eyes up when she caught up to her. "You can feel it, can't you?" Her grin widened as she flashed her teeth. "It's already awake."

"Your move." She transformed and waited, watching Kyoko and her surroundings carefully. The room was mostly featureless and shapeless, or didn't have any shape that she could identify. Walls could have been anywhere from ten feet to a mile away from where they stood, every surface was just a pattern. Checkerboard, plaid, polka dots, stripes, just a mess, like she was trapped in a fabric store's scrap bin.

"We just gotta catch its attention and bring it to us. No need to waste time finding it." Homura assumed the bouncing white things an indeterminable distance away were familiars. Kyoko rushed the one closest to them, jumping high above it and coming down on it with her spear.

They were about the size of her torso, just as shapeless as the barrier, elongated blobs with paperclip-like legs and small top hats. The one Kyoko lanced was dead and dissolved before she hit the ground, and a small swarm of them gathered around her. Homura readied her basic energy bolt magic, keeping a Beretta in her left hand in case it wasn't enough.

She was doing well enough on her own, even with them slowly closing in. When one came in range, her spear segmented and wrapped around the familiar, and she threw it to the side into another that was approaching. The next one was at her feet, and she kicked it into the air as part of a fluid back flip, batting it away with the blunt end of her spear.

"Watch out!" One behind her was dangerously close, its mouth wide open as it tried to land on her head. At least, Homura assumed it was a mouth; it was a large, toothed opening across its belly almost all the way down half its body. She fired several energy beams into it, and it fell dead before in reached Kyoko.

"Thanks." Kyoko moved closer to stand next to her. "Feel like telling me why you can't do that freezing thing anymore?"

"Is this really the time?" With Walpurgisnacht's defeat, she passed the date of the original contract, but had learned to fight without relying on it in the following years.

"No fun if I don't give them a handi- duck!" She threw herself to the ground at Kyoko's warning, and her spear passed just over the top of her head to slice an incoming familiar in two. "That information you wanna tell your girlfriend?"

"The terms of my contract were completed, and I lost the tie to my wish." She moved behind her and pressed their backs together. It was a lie, but it was convincing. Kyoko had also lost her magic by rejecting her wish.

"Kinda dodging the question don't ya think? Can't tell me what that wish was?" Kyoko moved away from her long enough to stab another before coming back.

"It's my problem to deal with." She shot two more with the energy bolts, familiars were a waste of ammo now that it was so hard to get.

"Alright, if ya say so." The familiars suddenly stopped in their tracks and scattered, and the room warped. "Aha, it found us!" Kyoko stepped to the side and gripped her spear tight.

Homura switched the handgun out for a Howa, something much more effective against witches. Conserving ammo wouldn't be important if either of them were dead. The rooms rushed past them, like being under a large patchwork quilt and having it pulled away.

This witch seemed familiar for once, it was rare for her to recognize them as the years went on. Although it had been too long for her to remember its ability, witches were often too distinct to forget. She was one of the taller kinds, solid black made of female torsos stacked on top of each other with a blank mannequin face. Her only eye was mounted on a red sunhat, and she stood unbalanced on short legs as thin as her own.

The biggest concern wasn't any part of that, it was her arms. In place of human arms were poleaxes as long as her body. Getting close would be hard because even if one could get past the axes, large spikes stuck out of her in almost every direction. The Frankenstein assembly of human body parts always made the most grotesque witches.

Kyoko, rather than acting disgusted or even excited, was caught in uncontrollable laughter. "It's made of boobs!"

While it was true that the torsos assembling the witch's body were all from...rather well-endowed females, Homura didn't see the humor in it. This witch had been a magical girl at some point, most likely a veteran if she had seen it before. She had to remind herself that in the final timeline, she was the only one who knew the truth about witches.

"Just focus and don't get killed." It wasn't worth explaining if her only intention was telling Kyoko she had a terrible sense of humor.

"You want me to penetrate the boob witch with my spear, got it." She stifled her giggles and took an offensive stance.

"Kyoko that's not what I..." There was no point in correcting her. She took off, jumping over a familiar and bringing her spear down on top of it. The pole bent, and when it straightened flung her into the air like a catapult, at head level with the witch.

She lost her momentum when she held her spear sideways, blocking a fatal blow from an axe. The second one came crashing down where she stood, and it would have cleaved her in two if she hadn't dodged to the side at the last second. She jumped on top of the pole, using it as a ramp to reach its weak point.

Before it could shake her off, she jumped and slashed at its face, but Homura was sure that was the wrong move. She ran closer, staying just out of range of its arms and picking off the familiars before they could reach either of them. Kyoko nearly impaled herself on one of its spikes on her way down, at this rate she might need her to jump in and save her.

"_Attack the hat, you can blind it._" If Kyoko needed to sate her bloodlust in a fight against a witch, she could show the decency to not get herself killed.

"_How'd you know that?_" She reached her head again to do just that, and Homura assumed she found the eye. "_Oh, I see it now._"

Before she could attack, the witch bent backwards at an angle she thought would be impossible with the multiple twisted torsos. Kyoko was lined up perfectly to land on one of its spikes. She rammed the blunt end of her spear into its body, pushing herself out of the way.

Homura ran forward when she saw one of the axes raise. Halfway there, she went from sprinting as usual to feeling like her blood was replaced with cold molasses. Running was hard, and she had to push herself to run even at half speed. Given Kyoko's shocked face as she looked up at the axe, she couldn't move properly either.

With her head start, Homura was able to shove Kyoko out of the way and kick backwards as the axe crashed between them. She could barely hear, "What the hell!?" over the collision.

"_Slowing magic, I assume. This is bad._" Both of their strengths were in speed rather than raw power, as long as Homura wasn't resorting to blowing it up. This was a rare time she wished she had Mami there to attack it from a distance.

"_What's your plan?_" Kyoko carefully dodged around the next axe that came down to stand out of the way with Homura. "_Runnin's out of the question._"

"_We're still better off if we blind it. Can you do that?_" They were slowed, but Kyoko was still fast, hopefully fast enough.

"_Heh, just watch me._" With a wide, cocky smirk, she made her way towards the witch. Given her ability to still jump at inhuman heights, it was only slowing magic, not increased gravity in the labyrinth.

She watched Kyoko as she rushed in, carefully waiting until each axe was too close to change trajectory to lean out of the way. Her finger rested on the Howa's trigger, aimed at the witch to settle her haywire nerves. In true Kyoko fashion, she never took a hit, even when hindered like this.

Everything went smoothly until she reached the head. Last time, she had a clean opening to the witch's eye, but she must have expected that. An axe was headed directly towards her side.

"_I'm sorry._" Homura pointed the gun's muzzle directly at the hat.

"_What are-_" Kyoko didn't finish the thought, she screamed and dropped out of the air as Homura pulled the trigger and fired a portion of the magazine at the eye.

Her goal was accomplished, the witch's eye was no longer open and the slow spell lifted. She ran forward while it was flailing around to catch Kyoko, who was shouting obscenities and sporting a gushing shoulder wound. "What the fuck, Homura!"

"_You wanted to give it a handicap._" She resorted to speaking telepathically, doubting her voice would be heard over the witch's shrieking.

"Now I've got three new holes in my shoulder!" Kyoko, conversely, was loud enough to talk verbally. She kicked herself out of Homura's arms.

"_And now you have none._" They healed quickly, her own magic aiding the process. "_But now the witch is blinded and we're at an advantage._"

"_Yeah screw you._" She was already cooling down, which was impressive considering she had just been shot. "_You got a plan then?_"

"_Get behind it._" Kyoko began to run a wide circle as Homura continued her instructions. "_I'm going to lure it towards myself. When you see an opening, kill it._"

"_How are you going to do that if it can't see?_" The spell was coming back, Kyoko's pace dropped. Homura switched the gun out yet again, a Desert Eagle she hadn't touched for years.

"_I'm sure that it can still hear._" The gun was strong, but inaccurate, with too small a clip to be any real use. But most importantly it was loud, and she wasn't concerned with saving the ammo for fighting. She fired it twice into the air.

The witch must have heard it, and began stumbling towards her. Kyoko was closing in and she shot once more, stepping back from the wildly-swinging axes. It was close, she trusted her to get there before she was hacked in two.

Closer. Another shot. Kyoko jumped up and let her spear split apart, lashing it like a whip around the witch's neck. She jerked it down, pulling herself upwards like it was a grappling hook, and the sharp edge of the spear unraveling around her neck cut a deep gash as it pulled away.

It wasn't enough to behead the witch, but she did stop in her tracks and nearly fell to the side. Kyoko, still high in the air, recombined the spear into one piece and brought it down directly into the nape of her neck.

As she fell out of the air, the spear dragged a long cut down every single torso all the way to the bottom. The shrieking stopped, their surroundings wavered one last time, and a grief seed appeared in her place.

"Hell yeah!" Kyoko jumped in place and threw a fist into the air. "Finally!"

"Quiet, we'll be heard now." Homura used the grief seed to take the edges of darkness out of her soul gem before transforming back and handing it to Kyoko.

"What are they gonna do, call the cops? Tell them they found some magical girls and we need to be arrested?" She pocketed the grief seed and grinned. "I'll take my chances."

"We're going home, that's all we're finding tonight." Usually they would cut it off early after encountering two familiars, or one witch. Otherwise they would spend all night outside, like Mami and Sayaka did. The only exception were the nights Madoka tagged along, and they suddenly became more diligent.

"Nah, not yet." Kyoko broke her spear down and flicked her wrist, wrapping it around Homura completely. She pulled her close before she could break out of it. "I got things ta do."

"Stop fooling around." They could have died back there, this wasn't the time to goof off.

"Nope, you're mine." Her breath still had the unpleasant scent of fried snacks on it.

"Let me go so we can leave." Sometimes Kyoko's misunderstanding of social situations was amusing, but right now it was just annoying.

"I'm gonna kiss ya and you can't stop me," she teased, leaning in close. Homura knew full well she could stop her, but she stood up on her toes to reach when Kyoko pulled her in by her collar. They were both drenched in sweat, and being this close didn't do anything to cool her down. She couldn't tell if sweat had dripped down her face and into her mouth, or if Kyoko's tongue tasted like salt from her diet.

When Kyoko held a hand on her back to hold her upright, she tried to hug her back, but her arms were bound by the spear. It was frustrating, and she instinctively pulled against it. She found it difficult to both return the kiss and struggle against it.

Kyoko let her go before long, dematerializing the spear. Her serious demeanor fell and she put on a goofy smile. "You're buying dinner, right? Make up for shooting me."

She didn't feel guilty about it, but it wasn't worth the fight over wounded pride. "Of course, it's on me."

* * *

If you want to see the witch and its familiars, look up Margot from _Oriko Magica _on the wiki. There really is a witch assembled from torsos and breasts. (If you're avoiding spoilers for that spinoff, don't look it up.)

And this chapter came out a little later in the day, since I ran through it much closer to double-check active voice on the pronouns (or whatever grammar jargon I'm thinking of), thanks for the crit guys! (I also rewrote some things, since Homura seemed colder than I intended. She's not heartless, she just knows what Kyoko can and can't take, so I hope it came across more like that.)


	5. You're My Best Friend

**Chapter 5: You're My Best Friend**

It had been cloudy all day, and Homura was glad to have had the foresight to bring an umbrella. The rain came down pretty heavily, half the students caught walking under overhangs to stay at least a little dry. She lived several blocks from the school, and while she wasn't going to get sick from the rain, it would have been a miserable trip.

She was almost there when she saw Kyoko on the other side of the street, jacket hood pulled up. "_Is that you?_" she asked, making sure she wasn't about to call out to a complete stranger.

Kyoko's head snapped up when she said that. "Yo, Homura!" She dashed across the street and ducked under her umbrella. "It's rainin'."

"I hadn't noticed." It wouldn't be a surprise that Kyoko was out at this time, but she usually stayed inside on rainy days. "Why didn't you bring the spare umbrella?"

"Didn't think it'd be this bad." She huddled in close, and Homura's left arm was getting wet from being against her.

"You can stay under here as long as you don't get me wet." It was already an annoyance to raise it a little higher for her.

"No fair if you're the only one not wet." Kyoko kicked puddles as she walked, splashing water around their ankles.

"You were the one who left without an umbrella, don't drag me into your bad decision." A little water had already gotten into her socks.

Kyoko got that grin that warned she was about to do the opposite of what she was told. "Nah." She pulled her into a tight bear hug.

"Ah- get off!" Homura pushed her away, but she swung around and slammed her into a wall, thoroughly soaking her back. "Kyoko I mean it!"

"Babe I just love you." She kissed along her jaw, an excuse to rub her wet hair all over her face.

Homura managed to push her off, drying her face off with her sleeve to no use. "I'm going home without you."

"Woah, hey, I didn't think you'd be that mad." She walked alongside her, trying to get back under the umbrella. "It's just water."

"Then you should have no problem." She had things to do at home anyways.

"Lemme make it up to you." She grabbed her by the forearm. "Aren't you curious where I'm goin'?"

"Not at all." Admittedly the thought crossed her mind, but she lost interest after the hug.

"There's an arcade around the corner, you should come."

"I'm not interested." She never had time for video games, they were pointless.

"Come on, don't be so boring. When's the last time you went to one to have fun?" They reached a standstill at the next corner when Kyoko tried to take the turn, and Homura wanted to go straight towards the apartment.

"I've never been." Hospitals didn't exactly discharge patients early for things like trips to the arcade. After becoming a magical girl, she had more things to take care of than Kyoko did. The only time she had gone inside was to find Kyoko, and discussing Walpurgisnacht was more important than joining her in a game.

"Ya never... Well yer gonna today!" She pulled her away harder, but both of them had trouble getting purchase against the wet pavement.

"I have other things to do." If Kyoko held her any tighter, her arm was going to bruise.

"Not anymore. This is more important." She put more force into pulling her; Homura walked along so that they weren't going to continue fighting on the street corner.

"I doubt it."

"Lemme guess, homework? I've seen your grades, it can wait a day." Homura huffed at her tone that implied it was a ridiculous excuse. Homework and studying were very important when you actually had school. "Come on, please? I fucked up, I can at least try and show you a good time."

Well, they were already on their way there. "At least you're sincere."

Kyoko grinned, relief visible on her face. "It'll be awesome, you won't regret it."

"I doubt that as well." It was nice to forget about homework and slack off sometimes, even the time was instead spent watching Kyoko play dance games.

"It's just right there. If you don't like it, it's not far to walk home." That was a fair deal.

While Homura had been inside the arcade before, this was her first time actually looking at the cabinets closely. The bright eye-catching animations and loud noises only served to deter her attention, but Kyoko was already making her way towards a machine.

She put in a 2,000 yen note and it spit coins back out at her. "What do you wanna try?"

"I don't care." She didn't know much about video games, other than what she had seen Kyoko playing. Each looked more uninteresting than the last.

"How about Dog Drug Reinforcement?" Homura gave a dry stare at her assumption that she knew titles. "That one."

Kyoko pointed at a large machine near the middle, the loudest and brightest in the building. "No." For once she recognized a game, and this was the one she knew she wouldn't enjoy playing.

"Come on, you'll love it." If she thought Kyoko was being serious, the smirk gave away that she didn't have any motivation to bring her there other than to embarrass her.

"You look ridiculous playing it." There was no other way to say it, nobody retained dignity after playing it.

"I just wanna see you shake that fine ass, baby." Kyoko rocked her hips to the side, dancing out of reach when Homura tried to grab her shoulder to stop her. "Alright I get it, we'll try something else."

"I appreciate it." Anything else would be better than putting herself on that stage where people would see her bouncing around like a child.

"How about a fighting game? You're good at fightin' already." She followed Kyoko to the end of another aisle. "Just watch me first."

Kyoko's hands moved too quickly to find sensible action. Shaking the joystick around, smashing the buttons on the right…something about that made the two characters on the screen zip back and forth in an impossible flurry. She had pulled off some crazy stunts but she was sure most of those attacks defied gravity itself.

She put another coin in the slot when she won. "Now you just do that."

"I have no idea what you did." Her hands were on the controls the same way, but that didn't suddenly enlighten her on what to do. She picked a random character on the select screen.

Kyoko came at her mercilessly, but Homura was barely watching the screen. Rather, she watched Kyoko's hands, trying to imitate but giving up after only seconds. "What's wrong? Ain't ya good at everything?"

"I'm good at the things that matter." The match ended after only seconds, thanks to Kyoko's practiced combos.

"Okay I'll show you a little more." The second round started, but Kyoko didn't rush her this time. "Yer supposed to be able to pick them up and just play."

"I assume that rule only applies to people with prior experience." She tried to take in the lecture; left left attack was a forward charge, down left up was a flip kick, left right left was a long-distance shockwave…. And then she zoned out and couldn't retain any of the information.

"Ready now?" Kyoko didn't wait for an answer and started with no other warning. She tried for a moment to do anything she just learned, and deciding it was too hard to pull it off fast enough, shook the joystick and pressed the buttons with no rhyme or reason. Still, she lost.

"You just button-mashing?" She shot her an angry stare.

"I don't understand it." This video game was frustrating and pointless, she would rather spend the time really training.

"At least try to learn." The game ended, but Kyoko put another coin in.

"I'm going home." Homework was slightly less entertaining than this, but it at least made sense.

"Hey, come on, let's at least play this out. I put in all that money." She did look a little apologetic, but that was going to be a lot of time. "And…you kinda have the only umbrella."

Homura sighed, chiding herself for believing Kyoko might have an honest reason for wanting her to stay. "You can spend 1,000 yen and then I'm leaving. You can choose to follow me at that time."

"Thanks." She grinned and gave a thumbs up, not forcing Homura to play against her again. "It's a pretty crappy date I guess, but they can't all be winners."

* * *

If there was anything that became more tolerable with time, it was Kyoko's ability to kiss. Her attitude could grate when they butted heads, but this had no room for her sarcasm. Anything to keep her quiet, but she would be lying to herself if she said this didn't have other benefits.

For once, it was a first experience that didn't make her scared or anxious. When you only had a month to start and be in a relationship, there wasn't a lot of time for your partner improve. She'd been through the first week of awkward new kissing countless times, noticeable improvement was a something positive and exciting to feel for the first time.

It helped that they found far more time to practice in the past two weeks than she had in any past timeline. A relationship with Madoka meant nose boops, sudden kisses on the cheek, lots of cuddling. Kyoko considered time spent watching something they didn't care about on the TV to be time wasted. They often didn't bother to turn it off first; it provided background noise even now.

She was sitting on the couch normally, Kyoko straddling her lap and keeping a comfortable weight against her chest and shoulders. Homura held her hands limply at her waist, while Kyoko had a loose handful of hair at the back of her head and another holding the back of her neck.

Kyoko pulled away for breath first. "You ain't got any better since the first time." She gulped and steadied her breathing. "How do I know you don't just suck?"

"I'm good at everything." Maybe there was room for a little sarcasm. It was best when it was a give and take.

Kyoko gave a quick ,"Heh," and moved back in. Homura breathed in sharply as her tongue brushed against her lips again.

She never got used to the feeling of her teeth, whether it was against her tongue or brushing across the corners of her mouth. Too sharp, and she didn't hold back with them enough. It had gotten better, her first few times she seemed to confuse kissing and eating, but she was still working on it.

It was distracting. Unfamiliar still. Pulled her away from the feeling of another tongue sliding against hers. Homura brushed Kyoko's cheek with her hand, feeling the way her jaw opened and closed slightly as her mouth moved against hers.

Again, Kyoko broke off. "So, am I getting any better then?"

"You've been improving." There wasn't anything to gain from lying or teasing her about that. If anything it could be a deficiency.

Kyoko leaned in close, close enough that she could feel her breath against her face when she spoke, but staying just far enough away that they weren't touching yet. "Then I need more practice, right?"

"It couldn't hurt." Homura started it this time before she could answer, and Kyoko deepened it.

The tiny gasp that escaped from the back of Homura's throat was embarrassing, but Kyoko was too busy to bring it up. She wrapped her arms around her completely and tilted her head back as Kyoko pushed herself a little higher, forcing Homura to sink into the cushions.

Homura rarely regretted anything she said, and couldn't recall any time that she regretted saying something to Kyoko specifically. Her words were calculated, straightforward, and honest. However nothing would be able to cover up her mistake, the soft moan of, "Madoka…."

Kyoko snapped her head up, nothing but shock on her face. Homura probably looked horrified, and she covered the deep blush immediately heating her face with her hand. There was an awkward silence between them until Kyoko broke it with obnoxious laughter.

"You absolute fucking loser!" She tossed herself to the side, off of Homura's lap. "I can't believe you, damn!"

She didn't answer, burying her face deep into her hands while Kyoko composed herself just enough to sit up straight. "Shit, you still ain't over that?"

It had been over a week since she even thought about that consciously. The problem, she was sure, was that she wasn't thinking right then. "It's not really working out for you, is it?" Kyoko was right, if that was where her mind went.

She spoke seriously now, but that giggle was still on the edge of her voice. "I guess I'm not really feelin' it either. I figured you were more into it."

"If that's true then it's better we talk about that now." There had to be a better way for this to be brought up than that mortifying slip. Her life was one mess after another.

"Well, if you're not goin' for it, then I'm not, so why would we do this?" Kyoko shrugged. "Just me?"

"No, that's for the best." If this was just a waste of time, they should at least acknowledge that and not continue to pretend this was going anywhere. "We're…still friends, right?"

"Of course, more than friends!" Kyoko didn't take long to shake it off, but there was still that edge to her voice. Something strained that she couldn't identify.

"More than…. But didn't we just-" She felt Kyoko's hand slam down on her shoulder, and she grinned wider than she'd seen in a long time.

"Yep, you're my best friend, even if you are a desperate nerd. That's more than a friend, to me."

Homura smiled the slightest bit. "Yes, best friends." It surprised her how great it felt to hear that.

"And if you ever wanna hook up again, you have my number." She backed up and cackled before Homura could think about swatting her away. "I might still be on your couch, actually." Even if their relationship changed, Kyoko hadn't. But it wouldn't be the same if she wasn't a persistent jerk sometimes.

Homura left her with a promising, "If you're lucky."

* * *

"What's been bothering you, Madoka?" Sayaka often invited Madoka out for lunch when she was upset. And if she didn't accept the invitation, she was dragged out of her house, often with help from Junko, to find out why.

Madoka sighed, twisting the straw in her cup. When she didn't answer, Sayaka ventured a guess. "It's Homura, isn't it?"

"Yeah…." She looked down at her lap, pulling the straw in and out to produce a squeaking noise against the plastic lid. "I just thought she was straight before this, but...I guess she doesn't like me."

"You can't get hung up on love at this age. We're still young, you should have fun with yourself and your friends while you can!" Sayaka was never a good listener, but she made up for it by doing her best to beat the depressing out of anyone. "I think you're doing a pretty good job of that."

"But Kyoko-chan too. Didn't you like her?" Madoka lifted her head up innocently to ask this.

"Wha- No, hell no." She waved her hand in front of her face. "What gives you that idea?" Kyoko was ridiculous and impulsive and definitely not her type.

"I just always thought you did." Madoka shrugged and picked through her French fries.

"No, that's ridiculous. She's just a moron that I happen to spend time with because she's a magical girl." Sayaka took an angry bite of her hotdog.

"That sounds like sour grapes to me, Sayaka-chan."

She swallowed quickly to answer. "It's not, alright? Anyways, we're here to talk about you."

"But I don't want to talk about me." She slouched her shoulders over and sulked.

"You should. Look, you keep evaluating yourself based on her, but it's not worth it. If she doesn't see how great you are, then you're too good for her." Sayaka wouldn't be satisfied until she was absolutely swollen with pride. "And if she was with Kyoko then how great can she be?"

"Really great." Madoka crossed her arms and sunk into the seat with a strong pout. "You think so, too."

"J- just drop that, there's nothing between Kyoko and me." It was hard to hold this conversation if she kept bringing that up. "We're gonna keep on this until you cheer up."

"Hey, Sayaka-chan. You and me aren't…are we?" She motioned between them with a confused expression.

"Ah, that…." This wasn't a good direction either. "No, sorry, you're just my friend."

"Oh, good, I was just making sure. Since they're friends too, ehehe." If she was laughing, then she had to be feeling a little better.

"Jeez, don't scare me like that, Madoka."

* * *

Thanks for following this one, especially if you're usually on my page for MadoHomu. I mainly wrote this because I love their dynamic, as friends or girlfriends they're so much fun together. The second inspiration was the average social assumption that two lesbians can't be just friends (or two gay men I assume too), which applied to these two. That thought led to, "What if they hooked up because they were single and thought they were supposed to date because they were sexually compatible?" and now we're here.

Most of my planned fics from here on out aren't nearly this happy and I'm settling back into my angst comfort zone for awhile. But I do hope to come back to this post-Portable series between fics, and/or hopefully get some more stuff to write for these two because just imagining these two is too much fun.


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